Team No Fixed Income Diaries: Griffith Highland Overnight Loop One Go For The 109 June 28th 2026

The Griffith Highland Overnight Loop....an "easy" loop of claimed 69km that is an easy loop for one's first bikepacking attempt. However when looked at it and after a while and right about just before major knee surgery had thought maybe of doing it in one go. One old school endurance athlete type push.

For The 109 and 1 year Anniversary

This was forgotten for a while due to surgery and things one deals with around that. Then in the last few months started thinking of it more without attempting to look at it. Then one day earlier this year began considering more doing it. However to say just wanted to do it wouldn't be admitting the truth. That is there is far more and darker things that where part of this thought process. And part of that has been on my mind off and on for a long time.

Back in the Sept 1986 I started 5 years of education at a place called Robert Land Academy. A private all boys military boarding high school that took the ideas of military drill and discipline and corrupted in abusive ways. Toxic ideas with grooming of children and other types of abuse. I learned in the last while that 109 former cadets or students killed themselves by or before 35 years old. The 109 is known as in we can confirm it was suicide though I strongly like others believe that number is much higher. And turns out that after talking to experts that I have PTSD and other mental illness as well as potential for "non-planned" suicide. Non Planned means one has zero plan nor is looking to end their pain. Non Planned is from what I understand means that we have the potential if the right situation where to develop we would simply be okay with that being it and let it happen.

With that on my mind and realizing the date as was approaching end of June which would be the one year anniversary of the survivors doing what the adults who where supposed to protect those under 18 failed to do. That being closed a toxic harmful facility.And part of what off and on since learning all this is the whole "How the fuck am I still here and didn't joining the other Cadets??" The experts explained that somehow me riding mtb and endurance type activity is what kept things managed at some level.

It was mostly riding mtb with a coupe of forays into multisport aka Triathlon/Duathlon that helped manage the PTSD and such. Especially for the decades as no one talked about evil shit like RLA. One was supposed to sip some water and walk it off. Train harder and it will go away. We now know better.

I decided that the way to handle it all was to go for a challenging ride. And the Griffith Highland Overnight Loop in one go was the option. Challenging ride in remote location was the option. I have no idea how came to that conclusion however it to me was better then more endless talking about how more needs to be done for mental illness and the accompanying graphs and pie charts. That is old and as one fighting mental illness is not helping get support services.

June 28th turns out to have been a heat warning day for the Griffith area. Was the same temps pretty much as what Kingston and other areas got starting Canada Day. More challenge to the challenge I decided to do. to remember the 109 and the 1 year anniversary of that place closing. Also because it;s what have sort of always done that is ride mtb's to manage shit. Instead of thinking how based on the rough math it means out of a graduating class of 4-5 cadets that half of every years class lost to the demons that place put in us.

I will never be cured of the mental illness and the demons that have had since June 1991. So while I can still ride and do dumb things in the woods. Thanks to us survivors hopefully there will be a few less kids abused and long term become adults attempting to interact with a society that will never understand. Yet we survivors did far more then those who basically through silence and inaction enabled it all.